Piedmont and Sayona produce maiden saleable concentrate from North American Lithium operation
First spodumene concentrate shipments from NAL are expected to begin in July.
Joint venture partners Piedmont Lithium (ASX: PLL) and Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) have produced 1,200 tonnes of saleable lithium concentrate from the recently recommissioned North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec, Canada.
Piedmont owns a 25% interest in NAL, and also holds a direct 15% stake in Sayona.
The duo announced this morning about 1,200t of saleable concentrate had been generated so far, including 6% lithium grade concentrate.
This follows the announcement of first spodumene concentrate production at the start of the month.
Commissioning is proceeding on schedule and within budget, with the first shipment expected to occur in July this year.
All-up for the half year ending December 2023 (H1 FY2024), the joint venture plans to produce and export 85,000-115,000t of spodumene concentrate from NAL. This is expected to occur via four shipments.
Sayona managing director Brett Lynch said production of first saleable concentrate at NAL was a “major milestone”.
“Congratulations to the whole team at NAL for delivering yet another milestone on time and within budget.”
Mr Lynch added that NAL will represent the “most significant” source of hard rock lithium production in North America, while underpinning Quebec’s strategy of building an integrated local battery sector from mining to manufacturing.
Advancing NAL
Next steps in the recommissioning process are advancing the crushed ore storage dome.
As part of the joint venture arrangement at NAL, Piedmont is purchasing either 50% of spodumene production or 113,000t (whichever is greater).
During ramp up, each spodumene concentrate shipment from NAL will contain an allocation for Piedmont and other customers.
Piedmont chief operating officer and executive vice president Patrick Brindle said NAL was the most advanced lithium project in development terms across the United States and Canada.
The company has offtake agreements with LG Chem and Tesla to on-sell some of its allotment of spodumene concentrate from NAL that it receives during H1 FY2024.